December 29

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we discuss the Chicago Maroons of Alonzo Stagg, their holiday West Coast barnstorming tour, some more great NFL championship games, and many more Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

Football history enthusiasts, delve into the gridiron's past! On this very date, history unfolded on the field in several ways. We might be celebrating a record-breaking performance by a legendary player, a trade that sent shockwaves through the league, or even the birth of a new franchise that would leave its mark on the game. Let's lace up our cleats and travel back in time to see what iconic moments transpired on this date in American football history!

US Library of Congress collection of the famous Amos Alonzo Stagg "Whoa back play."

December 29, 1894 - Los Angeles, California - The University of Chicago and Stanford rematch of the December 25, 1894 game where the Maroons won 24-4. This time the Cardinals tasted victory for Walter Camp as they defeated Chicago 12-0. Author Jennifer Taylor Hall in her book “Amos Alonzo Stagg: College Football’s Man in Motion” recounts that Stagg and his young bride were on a sort of honeymoon after their wedding a few months earlier but took 17 football players with them and scheduled games on the Western side of the US to help offset the travel costs. The author also poses the idea the the two games of this barnstorming series that were against Stanford and this second contest  in particular with the Cardinal may have set the stage for neutral site post season bowl games of the future. Don’t take the story from me, Ms. Taylor Hall tells it in much better detail in her awesome book on Stagg! Below is a link to get her book or you can reach her on Facebook  on jennifertaylorhall_writes. Hopefully we can get her on one of our podcasts in the near future, but you can check out her interview on our friend and fellow Sports History Network partner Arnie Chapman's Football History Dude Podcast episode 149!

Pictured above & in the banner is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the 1894 University of Chicago team taken by an unknown photographer.

December 29, 1940 - It was the 3rd NFL All Star Game where the format was that the NFL champions would face a roster of the best players from the rest of the League. If you remember back to our December 8 post, the Bears totally dominated the NFL Championship game over the Washington Redskins in a 73-0 route. According to a 2019 Reddit post the game was knotted at 14 a piece going into the halftime locker room. The Bears used great defense and some timely Sid Luckman throws to score twice more in the second half as the Chicago Bears showed again why they were the best as they defeated the NFL All-Stars, 28-14.

December 29, 1957 - Briggs Stadium, Detroit - The 1957 NFL Championship game once again had the Jim Brown led Cleveland Browns facing the Detroit Lions. An article on the Oakland Press website gives the details on the game. The Lions had to overcome a 20-point third quarter deficit the previous week on the road against the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Y.A. Tittle to make it to this title game. Lions scored 2 touchdowns in each quarter led by running back Steve Junker with two and 109 yards rushing and fellow backfield mate Jim Doran who had 101 yards on the ground with a TD. The Detroit Lions dominated the Cleveland Browns, 59-14 to win the title again.

December 29, 1963 - Wrigley Field, Chicago - The 1963 National Football League Championship took place as the Windy City’s Bears entertained the Football Giants from the Big Apple. At kick off the temperature was hovering around 10 °F according to a story on the American Football Database. Giants QB Y.A. Tittle started the game’s scoring by orchestrating a 41 yard drive completed with a 14 yard strike to Frank Gifford for a touchdown. Bears defender Larry Morris then took center stage as he injured Tittle and then later picked off an errant pass by the veteran QB returning it to the Giant 6 setting up the Bear’s first TD. Y.A. remained in the game but was forced to throw from his back foot which gave way to more crucial mistakes that the Bears took advantage of. The Chicago Bears handed the New York Giants a 14-10 loss to give Chicago the NFL Title.

December 29, 1965 - Per the Bladen Online website the CBS network negotiated a contract where they purchased television rights for 1966 through the 1968 NFL seasons for $18.8 million per year. This was a financial windfall for the League and was instrumental in its success.

December 29, 1968 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - NFL Championship,: Baltimore Colts blanked the Cleveland Browns, 34-0. With the victory the Colts earned the right to face the AFL’s top team in Super Bowl III. Let’s just say we “promise” to cover this big game in our January 12 Football History Headlines!

December 29, 1968 - The AFL Championship game was played at Shea Stadium in New York. Jets signal caller Joe Namath threw a touchdown pass to lead the Jets in a victory over the tough Oakland Raiders squad 27-23 to advance to play the Colts in Super Bowl III.

December 29, 1974 - Oakland Coliseum - The AFC Championship game had familiar foes as the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Oakland Raiders per the Pro-Football-Reference site. Powered by Running Back Franco Harris’s two touchdown runs and 111 yards on the ground the Steelers conquered the Oakland Raiders, 24-13 to advance to their first Championship game in Super Bowl IX.

December 29, 1974 - Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota - The NFC Championship saw the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 14-10 per the Pro-Football-Reference. The Purple People Eater defense picked off Rams QB James Harris twice to compliment the timely scoring of Fran Tarkenton leading the Viking offense to earn the right to face the upstart Steelers in the Big game.

December 29, 1983 - Memphis, Tennessee - The Liberty Bowl  which is also the 2nd College Football Holy War per the Onthisday.com website. In the contest Notre Dame defeated Boston College 19-18 in a thriller. The game’s MVP was BC quarterback Doug Flutie per Sports-Reference.com.

December 29, 2007 -  Tom Brady sets a then-NFL record, throwing his 50th TD pass, and the New England Patriots become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0

December 29, 2018 - Per the Onthisday.com site the results of the BCS semi final at the 85th Orange Bowl was that #1 Alabama outlasted #4 Oklahoma, 45-34.

December 29, 1909 - Boston, Massachusetts - Tufts End William “Johnny” Grinnell was born. The Tufts Jumbos featured Johnny as their end from the 1932 through the 1934 seasons. In Grinnell final season the Jumbos were 8-0 and Johnny was selected to the Associated Press first Little All-America team. The National Football Foundation selected Johnny Grinnell to enter the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

December 29, 1911 - The University of Southern California’s Tackle Tay Brown celebrated his date of birth. Tay was a member of both the 1931 and 1932 National Champions teams. The NFF says that he set a Los Angeles Coliseum record of blocking four kicks in one game. Tay Brown entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

December 29, 1915 -Providence, Rhode Island - The tough fullback from Holy Cross Bill Osmanski was born. The footballfoundation.org website states how the great balance, speed and power of Osmanski is what made him and his Holy Cross teams of the late 1930’s truly special. The team was 23-3-3 and the losses altogether totaled only a 5 point differential. In 1936 he had four runs over over 60 yards and was named to the All-America team in 1938. The NFF voters inducted Bill Osmanski into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

December 29, 1924 - Pana, Illinois - Ohio State’s great lineman Warren Amling was born. The NFF inducted Warren Amling into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

December 29, 1936 - Ray Nitschke the feared middle linebacker of the Green Bay Packers was born. Ray was the third overall pick in the 1958 NFL Draft by the Packers and he played with the team for 15 seasons according to his bio on the Pro Football HOF. Nitschke defended both the run and the pass well as his 25 career interceptions would indicate. Ray was a member of 5 champion Green Bay teams and was the MVP of the 1962 NFL Championship game.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame placed Ray Nitschke in a gold jacket in 1978.
 

Pictured above in the banner is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the 1894 University of Chicago team taken by an unknown photographer.  Another piece titled "Stagg watching his famous Whoa back Play" was unsed donated by photographer F. J. Rentschler circa 1901.  It was donated to the U.S. Library of Congress and is part of thier fine collection.